The New York Motorexpo rolls into the WFC for its fourth year (Photo credit: motorexpo.com)

For the fourth year in a row, the New York Motorexpo will be rolling into the World Financial Center beginning this Sunday, September 18. Touted as the world’s “biggest free to visit motoring event”, the expo will be open daily from Sunday to Friday, September 23.

Exhibitors this year will include Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Fiat, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Lotus, Mercedesâ€Benz, and MINI, among others. Exhibits will be set up both inside the Winter Garden and outside along the Esplanade.

According to the New York Times, a special-edition Fiat 500 by Gucci and a Gene Simmons Kiss edition MINI Countryman will be on display.

New York Motorexpo
World Financial Center
Sun, September 18 â€“ 11am-5pm
Mon-Fri, September 20-23 â€“ 10am-6pm

The 'best small town in the big apple' celebrates for tenth year (Photo credit: bpcblockparty.com)

Celebrating its tenth year in existence, the annual Battery Park City Block Party will take place this Saturday on the Esplanade. Born after the attacks on 9/11, organizers sought to bring the community together to celebrate and strengthen ties.

â€œOur party is unlike other block parties in other neighborhoods. We donâ€™t have outside vendors. We showcase local restaurants, local vendors and local talent. Itâ€™s all about our community.â€
–Rosalie Joseph, co-organizer

The event will bring back many of the features of previous years, along with some new additions:

Restaurant and vendor tents

Local artists’ booths

Apple pie contest

Children’s rides and activities

Dog parade

Human parade, including local talent (new)

Asphalt Green sports area (new)

Organizers will be providing tables where friends and families can grab a seat. The fun starts at 11:30am this Saturday.

Tribute In LightÂ will shine from Dusk to Dawn to honor all those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and to serve as a symbol of hope for the city of New York. An iconic gesture of remembrance is officially deemed a public artwork installation supported byÂ Governor Cuomo, Mayor Bloomberg, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Battery park City Authority, The Municipal Art Society, and all the public, corporate, and private sponsors.

According to the Tribute in Light website:
“Conceived in the aftermath of the September 11th tragedies, Tribute in Light is a temporary artistic gesture bringing together the vision and talent of numerous individuals who, shortly after the attacks, independently envisioned two beams of light rising from downtown New York. Finding support for their ideas, they joined forces in the spirit of the rescue and recovery effort downtown. The creative team consists of architects John Bennett and Gustavo Bonevardi of PROUN Space Studio, artists Julian LaVerdiere and Paul Myoda, architect Richard Nash Gould, and lighting designer Paul Marantz. Production support was provided by two non-profit cultural institutions The Municipal Art Society and Creative Time, with the assistance of Battery Park City Authority.”

When not in use, the entire installation is stored within the Battery Park City Garage until their annual commemorative use.

The blue beams, which are reported to beÂ visibleÂ for 60 miles, are comprised of 88Â separate 7,000-wattÂ searchlights, which are powered by a gas-run generator housed in a tractor trailer just outside of the parking garage.

When we first opened our digital doors to the community as Battery-Park.com, we knew that we wanted to help give a platform to our community by the time of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. With very little money, but a lot of passion, we’ve worked hard to build the site and bring information to our neighborhood.

The core reason we launched BatteryParkCity.com was to create a digital community to connect the neighborhood that we love. In the past year, we’ve gotten to know our neighbors better through this site, Facebook, and Twitter.

Behind the scenes, we’ve been hard at work to make sure we offer better access to the growing online community at BatteryParkCity.com. Interestingly, we’ve watched a few things happen both inside and out:

A growing percentage of our readers are viewing the site through iPads and iPhones.

Our contributors and writers have experienced some speed bumps in terms of publishing posts.

Some of our favorite areas of the sites were virtual crickets — despite the personal attachment, love, and attention we gave those areas

So we went back to the lab and tried to accommodate for the growing pains and learnings. Today, as our way of honoring the community on the 10th Anniversary of September 11th, we mark the official relaunch of BatteryParkCity.com.

Some new features launched today:

BatteryParkCity.com is optimized for mobile viewing and commenting: Our site is now optimized for the growing lot of you that are viewing from tablets and mobile phones. (It’s a lot of you.)

Facebook Connect: We love all the Facebook comments we receive, and its become a huge part of what makes our site great. So we’ve enabled a way to offer seamless commenting for our FB friends.

Redesign of our Newsletter: We’ve redesigned and updated our newsletter to offer more news/alerts/events/promotions for those who want the information as fast as we get it. Please sign up if you aren’t already receiving it.

Last but not least — as our way of honoring the community at large and as our way of paying tribute to the last 10 years we have lived through together — we would like to make an announcement:

BatteryParkCity.com will be offering free advertising support for selected businesses who have served our community since September 11th, 2001.

As a community we rely on you to help serve our neighborhood. Several great and beloved businesses within our community have lost their fight to stay here. This year alone we’ve watched more than a handful of our favorite businesses shut their doors for good. We always envisioned BatteryParkCity.com as a means to help our community — residents and businesses alike — to stay committed to the resurgence of the neighborhood.

We hope to be able to lend a hand and provide support for those small business owners who share our unending commitment to Battery Park City. Interested businesses should contact us.

We were never here to make money: We’re here to make a difference. We hope that together we can do that.

For an eve that I’m sure most of us have reserved for quiet contemplation, arising with the dissonance of speedboats and now the thunderous boom of fireworks before we rest our heads. The commemoration seems a bit excessive.

It Â has been voiced today that for most of us who have lived through the attacks on the World Trade Center – the spectacle is not necessary as much as the ability to have calm reflection with ourselves and our family.

Every year since the attacks — and now 10 years later — our neighborhood transforms into a media spectacle. Satellite trucks beaming the signal into the stars – the echos of the reading of names. Each syllable tears open old wounds. Yes, a decade old but surprisingly fresh – the way we celebrate and mourn is almost like pressing a rewind button back to 2002.

In 2002, for the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Red Cross was on hand – deploying an army of volunteers to simply hand out pocket tissues. They have not returned since, but in someway it probably wouldn’t hurt for them to come back tomorrow.

This year, will mark the launch of the 9/11 Memorial. Here is to the hope that Â with this unveiling the commemoration events will change. Our neighborhood has been slow to recover — but inevitably the renaissance is around the bend. Would it be wrong to also call for a renaissance of the way we commemorate?

We should never forget — but does that mean we have to relive?Â Â The increased terror alerts, the carrying ID in and out of the neighborhood, the shutdown of access to the area, the reading of the names, the images, the interviews, the documentaries – to be parsed out every minute on 9/11 — for the rest of our lives? What will happen when the generation born today, will be the media makers of tomorrow? Will they be able to strike the balance and present to us the images and stories in a way that won’t offend the sensitivities of the generation that has lived it? To balance the equation of sensationalism, media, commemoration, ratings and patriotism – currently has no solution.

Tonight I will fall asleep and I will dream that tomorrow we will turn a corner in the way we remember – for a 9/11 commemoration that helps to heal more than hurt.

Our neighborhood is on virtual lockdown and our defenses are up due to the heightened terror alert. That didn’t stop a disconcerting dissonance from erupting on New York Harbor.
At 9am this morning, loud roaring noises could be heard at virtually every point of Battery Park City — with most residents not having any forewarning to the commotion.

Apparently Super Boat International want to disrupt any sense of calm and safety before the anniversary of 9/11 by holding the 21st Annual New York Super Boat Grand Prix right outside our windows. For those of you who are not right on the water’s edge, it sounds like you’re on the sidelines of an Indy 500 racetrack.

Ostensibly, the event is being held to commemorate 9/11. The raceÂ gives off-duty Coasties a chance to race around New York Harbor with gross indifference to the thousands of those who live in our area.

According to the press release, “Boats will start arriving Thursday September 8th to Liberty Landing Marina in Liberty State Park in New Jersey. Fans can see their favorite boats up close Thursday September 8thÂ and Friday September 9th. There will be one race on Saturday morning starting at 9:00 am. Race teams are scheduled to race 17 and 3/4 laps totaling 84 miles on a rectangular course just under 5 miles around. Fans can watch from both the New York and New Jersey shorelines.”

The City is preparing for the annual September 11th commemoration ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site. At this time, we would like to share with you detailed information regarding the upcoming ceremony, including street closures, traffic, parking and pedestrian impacts.

The commemoration for family members will take place on Sunday, September 11th from 6:30 AM until 4:00 PM. Following a moment of silence at 8:46 AM, the names of the victims will be read with music as a backdrop throughout the program. Additionally there will be a total of five moments of silence: 9:03 AM, 9:36 AM (Pentagon), 9:59 AM, 10:03 AM (Flight 93), and 10:28 AM. During the ceremony, families will be allowed to visit the 9/11 Memorial for the first time. The Tribute in Light will begin at sundown.

Given the limited vehicle and pedestrian access in the immediate area of the World Trade Center site and Lower Manhattan vicinity on September 11th, we encourage you and your fellow residents, tenants, employees and outside guests to do the following in preparation:

Avoid scheduling deliveries on Sunday, September 11th until after 8:00 PM.

Residents and employees should carry verification of home or business address at all times.

Minimize car service pickups on September 11th. Traffic along Broadway is expected to be heavy.

Use public transportation whenever possible to stations outside of the event area. Please note:

MTA passengers should plan for the Cortlandt Street R station to be bypassed from 7:00 AMto early afternoon and check the MTA website at www.mta.info for updates on bus routes and service.

PATH passengers should plan for suspended service to and from the World Trade Center and restricted access to the WTC Path Station from approximately 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM.

The following streets will be closed to traffic and parking from Saturday, September 10 at 8:00 AM through Sunday, September 11, 8:00 PM. Pedestrian access will be very limited:

Warren Street between West Street and West Broadway

Murray Street between West and Church Streets

Barclay Street between West and Church Streets

Park Place between Greenwich Street and Broadway

Greenwich Street between Warren and Vesey Streets

West Broadway between Warren and Vesey Streets

Vesey Street between North End Avenue and West Street

Vesey, Fulton, Dey and Cortlandt Streets between Church Street and Broadway

Liberty Street between South End Avenue and West Street, and between Greenwich Street and Broadway

Albany Street between South End Avenue and Greenwich Street

Cedar Street between Greenwich Street and Broadway

Thames Street between Greenwich and Broadway

Carlisle Street between West and Greenwich Streets

South End Avenue between Liberty and Thames Street

Washington Street between Albany and Rector Streets

Greenwich Street between Liberty and Rector Streets

Please note, both the Vesey Street and Liberty Street pedestrian bridges will be closed on Sunday, September 11th. To cross West Street, pedestrians will be directed north to cross at Warren Street or south to cross at Rector Street.

No parking will be in effect on all closed streets, including official permit parking. All cars parked illegally will be towed. If you have further questions, please call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov.

Asphalt Green’s, the iconic Upper East Side community center is set to open the doors to its Lower West Side location – right here in Battery Park City. To prepare for its long awaited opening, the facility is offering neighborhood residents special charter membership rates in the brand new 52,000 square foot facility. Although the exact costs of charter membership are not well publicized, residents are encouraged to take advantage of the limited time only charter membership costs.

Yup, you read that second to last bullet right – the Asphalt Green facilities brings a Culinary Arts center in which family friendly classes will be offered to establish healthy eating habits along with all the healthy fitness activities the neighborhood will be partaking in. Cultural Arts will also be a core programming offering in collaboration with the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy. Cultural Arts classes will be held which include art, music, dance, science, nature and other family friendly activities.

For more information call 212.586.8779 or email agbpc@asphaltgreen.org.